DANIEL MBOKWANEImprisoned for Life (Original biographical information included with his bracelet in 1988)

Daniel Mbokwane was tried in the Pretoria Supreme Court along with Linda Hlophe, Sanna Twala, and eight other Duduza residents. They were charged with the murder of an alleged police informer, Rosaline Maki Skhosana, who was killed in July 1985, during a funeral for four youths. Some Duduza residents believed that Skhosana played a part in the deaths of four youths killed in the township in June 1985. A number of COSAS (Congress of South African Students) members were killed or maimed when hand grenades they had been given exploded prematurely. At the time, local residents believe that some of the youths were killed in cold blood by the police after changing their minds about going to collect the grenades. The killing of Skhosana must be understood in the context of the socio-political dynamics in the township at that time. In 1975, people were moved from an older township to Duduza. Residents were promised a highly developed new township, but for 10 years paid extremely high rent for homes without water, electricity or a sewer system. Throughout 1985, Duduza residents suffered police occupation, repression, and continued appalling living conditions. During the trial, Rev. Ross Oliver, a Methodist minister, gave evidence concerning the exceptional anger, suspicion and turbulence in Duduza at the time, and of how legitimate protests about living conditions were met with police violence. In addition, a number of activists had been killed in petrol bomb and vigilante attacks in which police and councilors were implicated. The state’s case relied heavily on a video recording of Skhosana’s death shown by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). The defense objected because they disputed its originality, authenticity, and accuracy because it was an edited version of film taken by two separate cameras which “could distort the sequence of events”. The judge ruled that “as long as it was relevant to the case” the video material was admissible, despite “the inherent dangers”. A teacher at a school for the deaf was called to lip-read the words spoken in Zulu on the video by five of the accused. She alleged they called for Skhosana to be burnt. Two days later the witness returned to the court, but refused to testify. She was formally convicted under the Criminal Procedure Act, warned, and discharged. Justice Hartzenburg ruled that her evidence should be ignored. Under cross-examination, another State witness who had attended the funeral and who had implicated three of the accused in Skhosana’s death admitted that he and others who had been detained for questioning had been deprived of food and beaten with sjamboks and batons by uniformed white men at the Dunnottar Police Station on July 23, 1985. In their evidence, seven of the accused told of their behavior at the funeral and the combination of circumstances which led to their participation in the attack. They admitted assaulting Skhosana, but denied killing her. Some of them knew the people being buried, others felt hatred for police and police informers because of police violence in Duduza. All of them expressed regret that Skhosana had died, saying they believed she should have been punished, but not killed. It was clear from their evidence and other reports that Skhosana may well have been dead before they became involved. One defense lawyer suggested that between 200 and 450 people participated in the attack. Sentence was passed on June 24, 1987. Sanna Twala, Linda Hlophe and Daniel Mbokwane were all sentenced to life imprisonment. One person was sentenced to 15 years and a youth of 17, who was only 15 years old at the time of the offense, was sentenced to 12 years. Three individuals, whom the judge conceded had not taken an active part in the attack, were all sentenced to 10 years. A 16 year old girl was sentenced to five years of which half was suspended. She had already spent a year in jail awaiting trial although she as only 14 years old. Two people were acquitted. The people sentenced to life imprisonment in this case are very different from other political prisoners in the Bracelet Program; they were not members of the ANC or PAC, had not gone out of the country for military training, and given reports from their families, were not even that aware or active politically. They were convicted on the now popular “common purpose” defense. Even though overwhelming evidence indicated that they probably did not murder Skhosana, they were in “common purpose” with those who did, and thus were found to be equally responsible. If Twala, Hlophe and Mbokwane were not politically astute before, this unique form of “justice” practiced in South Africa has probably done more to stimulate their understanding of oppression than anything else. Daniel Mbokwane was born March 21, 1963 and is one of four children in the Mbokwane family. As of this writing, both his parents are alive but they are separated. The father is living with Daniel’s brother, sister, and brother-in-law. Daniel is “traditionally married” in the African sense and has a daughter who was born in 1984. He is serving his sentence in a prison outside of Pretoria. ____________This biographical information is from several sources. We have pulled extensively from International Defence and Aid Fund’s bi-monthly publication, Focus, #70 and #72, 1987. We appreciate their permission to use these materials. Information from family members was also utilized.